Part 6/10:
While many Scandinavians served in identifiable ethnic units, countless others fought within mixed companies alongside American-born and other immigrant soldiers. This made tracking and documenting their contributions more complex. Notables like Y. Erikson emerged, not as soldiers, but as impactful figures in wartime innovation. Erikson, a naval engineer from Sweden, influenced naval engineering during the Civil War by contributing to the design of the USS Monitor, an ironclad warship pivotal in the Union's naval strategy.
His work helped bolster Union naval capabilities during clashes against Confederate forces and played a significant role in blockading the South and gaining control of critical waterways.